Troubled Tulsi Coop begins returning depositors’ savings

By Hari Prasad Koirala,Urlabari, May 19: The troubled Tulsi Cooperative Institution Ltd. has begun returning the savings of shareholder members from its Letang Service Centre in Morang. 

Mayor of Letang Municipality, Bhupendra Kumar Lawati, and Deputy Mayor Krishna Kumari Niraula initiated the savings return campaign by handing over money to shareholder Dilliram Dhakal On Sunday.

Dhakal, who operates a small enterprise in Letang-3, had saved Rs. 13,515 in Tulsi Cooperative. Despite regularly saving, he had not been able to withdraw any funds before the cooperative was declared problematic. 

The cooperative began operating its service centre in Letang-4 on July 6, 2022, had collected savings from members until mid-February 2023. Around 350 people from the Letang market area had deposited savings in the cooperative.

The municipality had called upon affected depositors to submit applications to its cooperative branch. On Sunday, savings were returned to 169 individuals who had submitted applications. 

Rudra Prasad Dahal, coordinator of the management committee for the troubled Tulsi and Shiva Shikhar cooperatives, said that preparations are afoot to return savings to all who have applied. He further informed that plans are in place to return funds to small savers with deposits ranging from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 40,000.

Dahal also mentioned that even the depositors who have not registered applications with the municipality will gradually have their money returned. The cooperative’s chairperson is currently in prison. According to Dahal, following the government’s decision to form a one-member management committee and assign him the responsibility, the savings return programme has begun with the support of the municipality.

The cooperative had opened its service centre and mart in the house of former ward chair Devraj Chamling in Letang-4, with a monthly rent agreement of Rs. 115,000. However, apart from an initial payment of Rs. 500,000, Chamling has not received any rent.

Chamling said that the agreement was for 10 years with a 10 per cent rent increase every two years. The cooperative and mart could not even operate for a full year. Chamling’s unpaid rent has now reportedly reached Rs. 4 million. The mart was completely closed on February 15, 2024.

Since then, depositors have been visiting either the municipality or the mart at Chamling’s house to recover their money. On Sunday, more than 200 depositors gathered at the meeting hall of the Jana Sewa Community Forest Users’ Group in Letang. Small depositors, who reached there with their passbooks, citizenship certificates, and deposit vouchers, expressed happiness over the return of what they considered lost money. 

Samjhana Dhimal, a depositor, said, “The hard-earned money has been returned. I had no hope of getting it back.”

Mayor Lawati claimed that this is the first time in the country that a municipality has successfully facilitated the return of savings to shareholder members of a troubled cooperative. 

He also said that Letang has sent the message that if the government is willing, depositors' money can indeed be returned, adding that the savings of larger depositors will also be returned gradually.